Getty Mike Zimmer's girlfriend called out the man who hired him for his distant relationship with the former Vikings coach.
Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has been on a media tour since he was fired — sending a series of shots at ex-Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer.
While Spielman has gone public to save face and control his narrative of the Vikings brain trust’s fallout in Minnesota, Zimmer has remained silent.
That’s until Katarina Elizabeth Miketin, who is reported to be Zimmer’s girlfriend, stepped up in his defense.
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‘You Should Be Embarrassed’
In a recent interview on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Spielman took another subliminal jab at Zimmer, calling into question the head coach’s unwillingness to build a stronger relationship with Kirk Cousins.
“I think the No. 1 thing you’re looking for is that head coach has to have a relationship with that quarterback,” Spielman said on Cowherd’s show. “And can a defensive head coach connect with that quarterback? Now, you know an offensive coach is probably going to be able to because that’s his job. But can a defensive coach do the same thing?”
Miketin replied to a tweet sharing the video, saying “What about the GM having a relationship with the organization? Not talking to your coach for three months? Rick, Backpeddling and ‘spin’ have always been your ‘game’. You should be embarrassed by your media blitz of ‘it wasn’t my fault’.”
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A fan prodded the idea that both Zimmer and Spielman are to blame for the growing divide in their final season with the organization, saying “neither of them tried.”
Miketin asserted that Zimmer did try and that he became alienated in the building by Spielman.
“Nope. The coach did,” she said. “But when your boss won’t talk to you… and isn’t the building.”
Miketin also addressed another interview where Spielman talked about team building and called an end to the gossip with national media:
“Rick, How can you build a team when you refuse to talk to the coach and don’t show up? You talk a lot to everyone else, just not the ones who mattered when the organization needed unity. YOU caused separation. Your gossip needs to stop. Let’s talk facts.”
Growing Feud Comes Back to Cousins
In the aftermath of both Zimmer and Spielman’s firings, Deion Sanders addressed the disconnect between the Vikings’ brain trust on the Barstool Sports podcast.
Deion saying Zimmer & Spielman hadn’t talked for months before firing.
1) Could explain Zimmer’s vendetta vs Rick’s rookies (Mond, Davis, Surratt, Jones)
2) Could explain Spielman’s FU signing of Sloter late in the season (Zim notoriously didn’t have time for Sloter House)
“Yeah, we talked,” Sanders said of Zimmer following the end of his eight-year tenure with the Vikings. “He and their GM hadn’t spoken in months. It was just a downward spiral.”
Sanders added a comment on quarterback play in the same breathe as Zimmer’s firing, insinuating that Cousins was the reason for duo’s downfall in Minnesota.
“When you look back on this, look at the commonality of the guys that got fired. Look at all the guys that got fired, and look at the quarterback play. There’s a common thread to each and every darn one of them,” Sanders said.
This isn’t the first time Sanders has critiqued Cousins.
Last offseason, Sanders, on a segment of Verzuz with Justin Jefferson, said he wasn’t crazy about Cousins, taking a shot at the Vikings quarterback.
“Justin, I know you were good. I didn’t know you were going to put in that kind of work this year… I know this game. I ain’t crazy about your quarterback,” Sanders said last January.
But this time around, Barstool Sports’ Dan Katz was there to clarify the critique of Cousins — one that is not of his play but his contract.
“Kirk Cousins isn’t a bad quarterback — his contract is bad,” Katz said. “What I mean by that is, if you got Kirk Cousins at the right price, that you could build a team around he could be a winning quarterback that could maybe go on a run. He got paid way too much money. The rest of the team eroded.”